Tuesday, December 17, 2013

2. Good God, there's nothing like a perfectly seasoned, perfectly rosé slab of roast beef--preferably one that's then sliced extra-thin, and served with horseradish.*

Okay. Yes, the holidays are here. And that means it was time for our annual "...an endless banquet" Christmas spectacular.

fig. b: all aboard!

But, the thing is, sometimes LIFE confronts you with an unexpected storm, and, suddenly, you have to chart a new course.

That's kind of what happened this year. Everything's fine now, there's no need to worry, but something came up that forced us to make a last-minute adjustment. What it meant was that the Christmas spectacular didn't actually take place at our place this year. Consequently, we toned things down a bit, scaled things back, and got "back to the basics."

The holiday bash that resulted might not have been quite as wide open as it had been in the past, it might not have been quite as extravagant, but it was still pretty spectacular, and it was much more of a collaborative effort--and all the better for it. For all these things, we owe our undying gratitude to our hostess. (TY, RD!) Such a lovely apartment, such a wonderful atmosphere, such a great time!!

fig. c: S.S. Shamrock!

Originally, we'd come up with this vague Lake Champlain "holiday steamship" theme. The "point of departure" was meant to be our apartment. I guess we ended up docking just a little ways up the coast. And we exchanged the S.S. Champlain for the S.S. Shamrock.

Did I mention that there was a pretty significant snowstorm the day of the party? No big deal. We're Montrealers, we know how to deal with such situations.

Anyway, "back to basics" meant simpler preparations. It also meant fewer last-minute preparations. But it was still pretty plentiful. The spread:

And, yes, getting back to that point #2: a perfectly executed roast beef is a thing of beauty. It also seemed like just the kind of thing that would have been served in the dining room of an elegant steamship back in the day.

We discovered a method for a simple roast beef that we really love--and that's proven to be foolproof--earlier this year in the pages of TheNew York Times. The recipe accompanied an article on Louisville's enigmatic Henry Bain sauce. Though the sauce was designed to be served as a condiment with everything from steaks to game, it's a stone-cold natural with roast beef. In fact, Sam Sifton claimed that this may be the sauce's "highest use" in his article, so he turned to Tyler Kord, the sandwich master at New York's No. 7 Sub, for a killer roast beef recipe to go along with his recipe for Henry Bain. And that's exactly what he got. I liked the recipe for Henry Bain--it was definitely unlike anything I'd ever tasted before, and, it's true, it made for a tasty accompaniment--but I absolutely loved the recipe for that roast beef.

As many of your probably know already, getting perfect results with roast beef can be a little tricky. Nobody likes a roast that's extremely undercooked, and overcooking a roast is all too easy. This recipe relies primarily on ambient heat to gently warm the roast all the way to its centre, resulting in that ideal rosy hue, not to mention an extremely savoury crust, optimal juiciness, and some outrageous pan juices.

I've been impressed with Kord's recipe since the first time I tried it, but recently I made an adjustment to it that's even more to my liking: I added ground caraway seeds to its spicy-garlicky rub, giving it a finish that was very much in tune with the nordic characteristics of our Christmas party spread.

Just how good is this roast beef? Well, the photos above are of the 2 3/4-lb roast we made the day after we made a 5 1/2-lb roast for our party--a 5 1/2-lb roast that completely disappeared (as tasty things often do). You see, the next day we found ourselves still having major roast beef cravings, so I went out and picked up another roast and we whipped up another batch--this one served with roasted broccoli and a mixed greens salad. And horseradish, of course.

The point is: this recipe is a keeper any time of year, but it's great for the holidays. Great for a party spread. Great for pleasing a crowd. Great for making sandwiches.

Happy holidaze 2013! Eat well! Drink well! Be well!

aj

*Actually, roast beef's a pretty lovely thing to serve with radishes à la crème, too. In fact, the two combined would make for a pretty amazing open-faced roast beef sandwich. Just a thought...

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

A quarter of the way through David Tanis' new cookbook, One Good Dish: The Pleasures of a Simple Meal, he features a dish that's somewhat deceivingly called "Radishes à la crème." Recipes that include the phrase "...à la crème" tend to be on the rich side. They also tend to be served warm. This dish, however, is neither--instead, it's cool, fresh, and light, and yet perfect for late fall and early winter.

"Radishes à la crème" is a remarkable salad--one of those rare dishes that far exceeds the sum of its parts--but Tanis is awfully humble when it comes to introducing it. He writes: "Only four ingredients--radishes, salt, pepper, and crème fraîche--yet they make an extremely tasty raw vegetable first course."

He must have felt a little stronger about this recipe than he's letting on here. He must have been aware of both its surprisingly wonderful flavours and its strong visual appeal. He must have realized that, in many ways, this was a dish that summed up the vision (and the genius) behind One Good Dish. He must have known that this is not just one good dish, it's one great dish. After all, "Radishes à la crème" is granted pride of place on the cookbook's cover

fig. a: please judge this book by its cover

and it's also afforded a two-page photographic spread (as opposed to just a single photograph) on the inside.

fig. b: inside scoop

And he was right to do so. It's a stunner. No matter how much you might like radishes and crème fraîche, you can't possibly imagine that they could possibly taste this great together. And if you're not really a fan of either, this recipe will make you a believer.

Now would be a perfect time to make "Radishes à la crème." While so many other fall vegetables have already disappeared, you can still find nice radishes. And with holiday meals often on the heavy side, this recipe provides a quick and easy way to lighten things up. Plus, it looks so pretty. And if you choose the right radishes, they even resemble snowflakes a little.

fig. c: perfect for the holidays

Use the freshest, tastiest, most beautiful radishes you can find. Use a nice crème fraîche, too. If you don't make your own, Liberté brand, here in Quebec, makes a very good commercial version.

Don't skimp on the salt or pepper, either. This recipe only calls four ingredients, after all, and it costs virtually nothing to make. Use a nice sea salt, like Maldon salt, and grind the best black pepper you can find over your salad right before serving.

Radishes à la crème

1/2 pound radishes (red, black, white, watermelon, or even daikon)
sea salt
1/4 cup crème fraîche, or a little more, if you like
a few drops of milk (optional)
freshly ground black pepper

Use a very sharp knife or, even better, a mandoline, to slice the radishes as thinly and uniformly as possible. Lay them out on a large plate or in a bowl. Sprinkle sea salt over top. Garnish with a whole radish or two, if you like.

If your crème fraîche is thick, stir it vigorously with a spoon for about a minute to lighten it up, or thin it with a few drops of milk. Spoon it generously over the sliced radishes. You can either dollop the crème fraîche in the center of the arrangement, or drizzle it all over the radishes. Finish dressing the salad by grinding black pepper over top according to your taste.

Serves 4.

Optional embellishments:

1 tbsp fruity olive oil, drizzled over top

spicy radish sprouts

chopped chives

(We haven't tried any of these variations yet, but they all sound great.)

This salad is quite simply our favourite dish right now. We literally can't get enough of it. We'll finish off a plate of "Radishes à la crème" and immediately start talking about the next batch we're going to make.

But there's much, much more to One Good Dish than just "Radishes à la crème." In fact, when Tanis was in town to launch his book at Appetite for Books earlier this fall, he didn't even prepare this recipe. Instead, with the help of Jonathan Cheung, the store's owner, he presented a classic warm lentil salad à la française, some simple cucumber pickles, and a pumpkin seed brittle, all straight out of the book. I'm not sure he realized it at the time, but this trio was also ideal for a climate like Montreal's--all three were recipes that we could easily prepare even in deepest winter (given we can find some hydroponic cukes).

Finally, in addition to lovely salads, dips and spreads, soups and stews (meals you can eat with only a spoon), dishes that should ideally be made in a hot cast-iron pan, simple desserts, and so on, One Good Dish also comes with a glowing recommendation from none other than Yotam Ottolenghi. Will this become the next Plenty? I'm not sure, but One Good Dish is definitely one of our top picks of the year.

aj

p.s. For more on David Tanis and the WWDD lifestyle, check out this post on Tanis's pho bo, this one on his New Mexico-style green chile stew, or this early one on his Swiss chard gratin (a variation on which also appears in One Good Dish).

Judith Herman and Marguerite Shalett Herman, The Cornucopia, Being a Kitchen Entertainment and Cookbook Containing Good Reading and Good Cookery From More Than 500 Years of Recipes, Food Lore &c. as Conceived and Expounded by the Great Chefs & Gourmets of the Old and New Worlds Between the Years 1390 and 1899 Now Compiled and Presented to the Public in a Single Handsome and Convenient Volume